West Indies 'A' thrash India 'A' to level series

Last updated on: June 13, 2012 11:05 IST

Left-arm seamer Delorn Johnson and skipper Veeraswamy Permaul wreaked havoc as West Indies 'A' thrashed India 'A' by 125 runs in the second unofficial Test and levelled the three-match series at 1-1, in Arnos Vale, St Vincent, on Tuesday.

Chasing a target of 220, the young Indian batting line-up never got going and were bundled out for a paltry 94, as Johnson (six for 34) and Permaul (four for 22) shared the spoils.

Permaul had impressive match-figures of nine for 80 to show for his efforts while Johnson returned with figures of eight for 62.

Such was the domination by the Caribbean duo that the match ended well before lunch on the final day after India 'A' lost six wickets for 37 runs.

The 6 feet 7 inches tall pacer troubled the Indian batsmen as he extracted sharp bounce and bowled at a good pace, while left-arm spinner Permaul got a lot of purchase from the wicket with the odd-ball keeping low and the rough patches assisting in turning the deliveries.

Starting the day at 57 for four, a lot depended on the pair of Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwary. Rohit started with a lofted boundary but then got a delivery that kept very low as he went on the backfoot and he was dsimissed for 13.

Wicketkeeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha (0) then got a beautiful arm-ball which he padded up to and was adjudged plumb leg before wicket.

Rahul Sharma was the next man dismissed. Johnson softened him up with a snorter and then bowled a full pitched outswinger, which the batsmen guided into the hands of the wicketkeeper, as the pacer got his maiden five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.

At 68 for seven, the end was near and Tiwary ran out of patience as he pushed hard at a Permaul delivery which was gleefully accepted by Jonathan Carter standing in the second slip to leave his team reeling at 70 for eight.

Akshay Darekar, Shami Ahmed and Ashok Dinda failed to delay the inevitable as the hosts completed an easy victory.

The third and final match of the unofficial Test series will start in St. Lucia on Saturday.